The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-11-25

The emigrants counted up fully $50, but
there were not over fifty men. A good thirty
of the lot were single women going out to
take service, and the rest were wives and
children. ! figured that there were only
seven men in the steerage who would fight
for the ship. They could not we'll be counted
on, however, for a couple of the ruffians,
armed with pistols, could hold them in check
when the hour came We had some twenty
six sailors, carpenter, a boatswain, doc
tor, steward, four cooks and two mates.
Ii all were loyal and the ship was not taken
by surprise, there were men enough to put
the mutineers down pretty quick. But all
were not loyal. Twelve of the sailors had
already been won over, and when the hour
came to strike it was likely the number
would be increased to twenty. figured,
and | think the Captain did too, that it
would be about an even thing in numbers
After | made my second report to him he
gave me orders to clean up all the firearms
and load them afresh. These were ell kept
in his cabin, together with a lot of cutlasses
and boarding pixies, and spent two days on
the weapons without any one being the
wiser. The ship had twenty muskets and
as many cutlasses and pixies. The muskets
were of old pattern, purchased at sale of
condemned stores, and | couldn't say any
better of the cutlasses and pixies. The ship
did not pretend to be armed for either war
OF pirates. | got all the weapons i'll the
best shape and then returned to my former
duties.
What bothered the Captain was to know
when the attack was to be made, and he
could hardly see the object of one. No sane
man, no matter how tough he was, could
think of capturing the ship and playing pi-
rate with her. She had no cannon, and in a
few days at most would be hunted down by
uacsa1 Mr.. Cotton haliaxaI fba,.
was some plot to which the capture of the
ship was only part, but, try as hard as
could, [ could not get at the secret until
long weeks had passed, and the remainder
OF our voyage was only question of days
Then, one day, / got it quite by accident.
had gone into the foreoastle at noon to see
what could pick up among the sailors. |
crept into one of the hunks and pulled a
blanket over me, and in about an hour, or
after the watch below had eaten their din
ner, the ruffian who had done most of the
talking with our Bill in the public house
came down among the men. 1t was against
orders, but he had somehow slipped past the
mates. | now heard him called Sam. 1t
seemed that all the watch below, as well as
a part of that on duty, were in the plot and
they made no bones of speaking. My pres
ence was, of course, unsupported.
Then came to light what was afterward
known throughout England as the Winston
Conspiracy" of which the papers were full
for months. John Winston, a noted and
wealthy sporting man, was convicted of
robbery and sentenced to penal servitude.
He had brother James, who interested
friends in an effort to rescue him. Some
were in for money and some for the love of
adventure. 1t took them a year or more to
lay their plans, and the money used up
amounted to over 415,000. Three or four
of the conspirators secured places as guards
in the penal colony, sloop was purchased
of a coast trader, and when the Queen BeSs
sailed she took with her as passengers the
rest of the gang. 1t was to be calculated in
Australia when she would appear off the
coast. Winston and other hard characters
were to make a break, secure the sloop and
stand out to sea. When they met the ship
they were to run her aboard and with the
help of the gang in the Storage, capture
her. Women and children and such as
would not join them were to be put ashore
on some island and the ship headed for
America. 1t was confidently expected she
would reach that country in safety, and
there was no law which would give the pi-
rates up to justice. The Queen Bess was
now within five days sail of the coast and
Sam had come down to arrange the par
ticulars He believed the officers in total
ignorance of the plot and had no doubt of
success. All were to be on the watch for
the sloop and as soon as she was sighted
every mutineer was to appear on deck. If
the sloop showed signals of distress and a
boat was sent off, then the ship was to be
taken while the boat was gone. If the sloop
ran the ship aboard, as if by accident, the
fight was to begin the moment the mannu-
vre was put into execution.
Everything was given away and l lay
there and heard every word, and afterward
got out of the forecastle without being no.
ticed and reported to the Captain. His first
move was to call the mates down, and after
ward such passengers as he felt certain of
Very luckily for us, there was a trader
aboard who was taking lot of revolvers
out to Australia, with other traps They
were the American Colt and were a novelty
then. He had twenty-four of them in his
trunk, and when they had been taken into
the cabin and loaded we felt certain what
the outcome of the mutiny would be- The
conspirators were no doubt supplied with
pistols and knives, but we had six shots &c
their one. Nearly every male passenger
was taken into the Captains confidence,
and it spoke well for their discretion that
not one single hint of what was taking place
reached the ears of the fellows impatiently
biding their time in the Storage There
were no loopholes left for accident Capt.
Flemming carried such look in his eyes as
never saw before or after and he had
firmly made up his mind that not one of the
conspirators who raised hand against the
ship should live to be tried for piracy
At 10 o'clock in the forenoon, when we
were about hundred miles off the coast, a
trusty sailor who had been sent into the
forerigging, ostensibly to make repairs, but
in reality to watch for the sloop, came
slowly down and reported her in sight from
his elevation. In half an hour more she
would be visible from the decks, and the
conspirators would then make ready. Dur
ing this half hour the revolvers were dis
tributed, the loyal passengers placed at
advantageous points, and the sailors who
were in the plot were sent aloft on one pre-
text and another They had no other wea-
pons but their sheath knives, and one man
with a revolver could hold four or five of
them in the rigging.
When the sloop was at last reported we
saw movement among the conspirators and
knew that they were making ready They
were sharp fellows, and | am free to say
that had we not known what they were up
to none of their actions would have aroused
suspicion The sloop was coming down with
the wind, while we were making long tacks
to starboard and port. Under these cir
cumstances she could not well lay us aboard.
Up went signal of distress as soon as she
thought we could see it, and she was brought
into the wind to wait for us. We made a
reach to the north, and then as we came
back on the other tack we swung into the
wind not cables length from the sloop
She was small craft, her decks not more